There are so many designs you can create with hot process and rebatch soap, and the bars are ready to use in just a few days. There are several ways to make hot process soap. This post talks about how to use the oven, and this post talks about how to use a slow cooker. You can also use the hot process method to save separated soap – learn how here.

Keeping up with trends used to mean switching on your TV or picking up a magazine in the checkout line. Now the most popular colors and designs are right at your fingertips. All you have to do is scroll through Instagram or Pinterest. That makes it easy to try new things and keep your products fresh. Learn how to incorporate trends into your designs below.

Where to find inspiration
Inspiration is everywhere you look. Instagram is a great place to start. Fellow soapmakers can help you brainstorm – the #BrambleOn tag is full of amazing designs. Seeing all the photos in one place can help you identify what people are loving at the moment. You can also search tags like #soapshare and #soapmaking, then follow your favorite makers from there.

Pinterest works in a similar way because you can follow pages that share things you’re interested in. You can also search a subject and see every DIY project under the sun.

“I love Pinterest, that’s my favorite place to go,” said Yvonne with The Snoblove Bar. “Galaxy is a thing right now. So if you type in ‘galaxy,’ it will pull up everything from painting to lipstick, and you can see all the variations of the way people look at the theme.”

Don’t feel limited to just soap pages. Yvonne follows Pantone and interior design pages for ideas. She also loves seeing all the colors and textures in fashion shows.

Tania with Soapish follows people who make paper art, stationary, and pottery. She visits local stores and galleries to see their newest inventory. As a cake decorator, she also finds plenty of inspiration from baking techniques. For instance, you can create shapes for cookies and cakes using fondant. You can use a similar technique with soap dough.

Some of our favorite bakers include SweetAmbs, who creates intricate cookie designs using a variety of tools. Lottie & Belle creates over-the-top cakes with piping and embellishments.

How to incorporate trends in your designs
Once you find a trend that speaks to you, it’s time to work it into your project. Lisa with Small Batch Soaps takes a trend like unicorns and breaks it down into key elements. That includes a horn, ears, eyes, rainbows, and glitter. She identifies which of those she’s interested in and then draws her design out on paper.

If she hasn’t tried the technique before, she heads to YouTube or other blogs for advice on how to get started. Then, she makes a small batch to see how the idea translates to soap.

“There are endless ways to interpret a trend, and I think that’s why it’s possible for anyone to incorporate trends into their products, while still staying true to their brand,” Lisa said. “For example, if you don’t feel like putting a unicorn horn on your soap is on brand for you, maybe you could try a rainbow or pastel colour palette, adding some glitter, or stamping your soap. No one knows your aesthetic better than you, so if you design it, I think people will recognize it as yours.”

Yvonne with The Snoblove Bar likes to approach trends a few different ways. The first is a more literal interpretation. For instance, she noticed people are loving flamingos right now. Options for working with that trend include a flamingo embed in the middle or on top of your bars. You can also create bright pink bars and then cut out flamingo shapes using a cookie cutter or sharp knife.

Staying true to your brand
It can be tempting to incorporate every trend you love into your designs. However, it’s important to ensure they still look like your products. You want people to recognize your creations and come back for more.

Yvonne kept seeing soaps inspired by Minions. She thought the bars were adorable, but she couldn’t find a way to work the theme into her line. Her brand is feminine and light. She works with pastel colors, piped flowers, and elegant embeds.

“It wasn’t the trend that would work best for my business,” she said. “You gotta know what you are, what makes you you, what makes your brand your brand.”

Tania with Soapish agrees. Her creations contain a lot of shapes, angles, lines, and layers. If she can find a way to work with a trend using those design elements, she’ll give it a try. If not, she’ll try something else.

“Go with what you love,” Tania said. “I think that if you love something, if you find something that speaks to you, something that you just can’t stop thinking about – translate that into your art. That’s what keeps you consistent and keeps your products aesthetically pleasing. Stick with what you love and you can’t go wrong.”

I don’t want to inspire panic…but there are 62 days until Christmas. In other words, Christmas Eve is exactly two months away. If you’re the type who runs to the mall the week before for gifts, you have plenty of time. But, if you’re planning on giving handmade gifts this year, it’s time to start crafting…yay!

Planning on giving cold process soap this year? Soap made by the beginning of November will be fully cured just in time for Christmas or Hanukkah. If the soap has a water discount, you give yourself a bit of wiggle room. =) Below are a few of my favorite holiday-inspired cold process soap tutorials. But of course, keep in mind your soap doesn’t have to be holiday themed. Creating soap made with your recipient’s favorite scent or color is a great way to make them feel extra special.

If you have a lot of gifts to give, the Cold Process Soap Wedding Favor Tutorial shows you how to make 72 guest-sized bars in one batch. Switch out the pink colorant for red or green for a festive look. Bundle several bars in a gift bag, or give each bar individually. These little bars make great stocking stuffers or gifts for a teacher, doctor, or mail carrier.

If you make melt and pour soap, time is on your side because melt and pour doesn’t require any cure time. And with so many design possibilities, you’re sure to find the perfect melt and pour project. For the person who appreciates sparkle and shine, melt and pour soap gems would be right up their alley. Learn how to make emerald and amethyst soap in this Soap Queen TV video, then check out the Sparkly Garnet Soap Gems Tutorial. If you’re looking for an easier project, the DIY Sparkling Bath Crystals would make a great gift as well.

Not quite ready to think about making Christmas presents yet? Get in the spirit with DIY Scented Pine Cones. They are super easy to make and fill your house with your favorite scent. This year, I’m going to use Cedar and Amber Fragrance Oil for a woodsy scent. I can’t wait to start decorating the rest of my house for the holidays. My advent calendar is ready and waiting to be hung up! =)

Looking for more holiday inspiration? The #SoapShare tag on Instagram is full of amazing holiday soapy projects. I’ve put together just a few of my favorites below. Keep tagging your photos with #SoapShare, I love to see them! If you’re not a crafter but want to support those who are, many of these talented soapers are selling their creations. Click on their name below to be directed to their Instagram page and learn more. =)

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. It’s a great time to express your love for the people in your life, be sappy and say the things that we don’t always say in everyday life. I like to spoil my friends and family with small handmade gifts on Valentine’s Day. Who doesn’t enjoy receiving a gift covered in hearts? In addition, who doesn’t love making gifts covered in hearts? It’s a win win!

With Halloween and Thanksgiving still on the horizon, it can be hard to start thinking about the holidays. But, they will be here before we know it. If you are giving homemade bath and beauty products as gifts this year, now is the time to start planning and crafting. This is especially true if you plan on making cold process soap, as it requires 4-6 weeks to cure. In 4-6 weeks, it will already be the beginning of December! Crazy how time flies. =)

Rebatch soap is a great option if you’re in a time crunch. Look out for the tutorial for these holiday-inspired rebatch bars soon!

If you’re looking for a little holiday project inspiration, look no further! Over the years I have come up with plenty of projects that are perfect for holiday gifts. My friends and family always get handmade gifts from me, and I’ve never had any complaints about that. =) Homemade gifts are always memorable and I guarantee the recipients will be thankful that you took the time to create something for them.

Without a doubt, my favorite item to give during the holidays is cold process soap. It always invites conversation about the process, and I can talk about soap all day! If you’re looking for a holiday inspired cold process soap, the CPOP Swirls Soap includes classic green and red colors. Scented with Fresh Mango Fragrance Oil, the fruity scent is slightly unexpected and great for any time of year.

It’s been more than a year since our last business post mash-up (wow, time sure does fly!) and over that year we have amassed a whole collection of business tips, inspirational ideas and insightful interviews with fellow soapers. We hope that this post will serve as a comprehensive resource of soapy inspiration to help power you through this busy craft season.

I love chatting with fellow business owners, and we had the opportunity to interview nine talented soapers this year. From cold process soapers to melt and pour experts to seasoned business owners to those who are just starting out, with these interviews you’ll get a range of perspectives from soapers across the business spectrum.

We’ve also had a few guest posts from soapers such as Amanda Griffin from Lovin’ Soap about her trip to Haiti and her amazing new non-profit; Donna Maria from the Indie Business Network; and Jeanee Duval from Dirty Laundry. Jeanee was also our guest for two Soap Queen TV videos which you can watch here and here.

My weekend was a perfect mixture of lethargy (Saturday) and movement (Sunday). My book club is reading the new Jonathan Franzen book, Freedom. You may have heard of the book because it’s Oprah’s latest pick. His previous book, The Corrections, was also critically acclaimed but it’s been about a decade since that book came out so interest in this book is high. And, for good reason. I could barely drag myself off the couch until 2 p.m. on Saturday because I was so enthralled with the book. I did make a bit of a productive comeback in the afternoon, cleaning the house and doing laundry but I could have stayed parked on that couch all day. The book is that good.

We headed down to Seattle Saturday night to stay overnight for a very special Sunday – the Run of Hope to benefit Children’s Hospital Pediatric Brain Tumor Research. You may remember my friend Kyle? He lost his fight with his brain tumor last February but his Mama has been doing an incredible job raising money to benefit the hard-working researchers at Children’s Hospital who both cared for Kyle and are still researching childhood brain tumors. She’s still fund raising for Children’s (information here). Bramble Berry was a proud sponsor of the Run of Hope this year and we were thrilled to participate in the event as well.

One of Kyle’s strongest supporters during his fight was Husky Quarterback Jake Locker. Jake did so much behind the scenes, coming over to play video games with Kyle, helping with fund raising and publicizing Kyle’s plight to help defray medical expenses. And, he hasn’t quit helping. Despite getting home at 3 a.m. yesterday morning from the Husky’s incredible win over the LA Trojans, he showed up bright and early to sign autographs, t-shirts and babies (yes, he signed babies; it was the cutest thing). An additional cool factor to his presence was that ESPN is covering his every move, in anticipation of the NFL draft. There was speculation that had he gone pro last year, Jake would have been the No. 1 draft so ESPN has a camera following him everywhere in preparation for this year’s draft.

Overall, the day was a fantastic experience for Team OOO-UM-GOW-AH and the more than 2000 participants in the Run of Hope. Of course, we all wish that there was no reason for the Run of Hope but it was fun to meet, walk and remember Kyle while helping the team at Children’s that helped him so much.

Me ‘n’ Jake Locker

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